Hockey Hall of Famer Mats Sundin is in consideration for a role in the new management structure for the Toronto Maple Leafs.
According to hockey insider Chris Johnston, the Maple Leafs are talking to Sundin about a role in the team’s new leadership structure. The Maple Leafs fired former General Manager Brad Treliving last month and are currently searching for a new GM and/or President of Hockey Operations.
“Mats Sundin is in Toronto to meet with the #leafs about a potential role in the new management structure, per sources,” wrote Johnston.
It is unknown whether Sundin is under consideration for the vacant GM position or would be hired as the team’s new president after Brendan Shanahan was fired a year ago. There is also the possibility he could be hired as a team ambassador, but at this point, it is just speculation as to what position Sundin would hold if he were hired.
Mats Sundin is the Greatest Maple Leaf of All Time
Sundin is universally regarded as the greatest player in the history of the Maple Leafs. After the team traded Wendel Clark for Sundin in 1994, the big Swede went on to play for the Maple Leafs for 13 seasons, racking up 420 goals and 987 points in 981 games played, becoming the all-time points leader for the storied franchise in the process.
Sundin was elected into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2012, his first year of eligibility. He is known as the greatest Maple Leaf of all time, the greatest Swedish-born hockey player of all time, and one of the best European-born hockey players of all time.
Maple Leafs Need a New GM After Brad Treliving Fired
The Leafs fired their former GM, Treliving, in late March after the team was tracking to miss the playoffs for the first time in nearly a decade. Treliving came under fire for making several poor trades, including trading a lottery-protected first-round pick and prospect Fraser Minten to the rival Boston Bruins for Brandon Carlo. That pick was top-five protected in the upcoming 2026 NHL entry draft, so the Maple Leafs will need a bit of lottery luck to keep it. Additionally, Treliving traded a future first-round pick and prospect Nikita Grebenkin to the Philadelphia Flyers for Scott Laughton, another transaction that critics widely panned.
The Maple Leafs have been searching for new leadership ever since Treliving was fired, with former Vancouver Canucks general manager Mike Gillis among the potential options. Sunny Mehta, the former Florida Panthers assistant GM, was another name bandied about, but he was recently hired by the New Jersey Devils as the team’s new GM.
Should the Maple Leafs bring back Sundin, it would represent a stunning reunion with the legend of the sport. Although Sundin’s tenure with the team as a player didn’t end well after he played his final season with the Vancouver Canucks due to the Maple Leafs being in a rebuilding stage at that point, he has remained cordial with the franchise over the years. Now, he looks to potentially rejoin it in a leadership capacity.
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